<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="24" width="927"> <tbody><tr> <td width="9%"> </td> <td width="91%"> This work is copyrighted. The individual who uploaded this work and first used it in an article, and subsequent persons who place it into articles assert that this qualifies as fair use provision of United States Copyright Law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="244" width="202"> Other versions / source images </td> <td width="446"> Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar cover.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

"Time, Dr. Freeman? Is it really that time again? It seems as if you only just arrived."―The G-Man

The timeline of the Half-Lifeand Portaluniverse spans from the 1910s to the first decades of the 21st century. That timespan saw the rise and fall of rival scientific research corporations Black Mesa and Aperture Science, the invasion of Earth by the Combine, an alien intergalactic organization, in the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident, and the uprising of humanity against them.

My timeline has been built by gathering every known date, with the known events and chronological facts organized around them. Several retcons have been made since the release of the first game; they have been applied here, with a mention of the changed dates.

Valve currently have no plans on issuing a complete official Half-Life/Portal series timeline, since they fear it would limit their creativity for possible future games, with always a risk of contradicting themselves. The story is still being written as of today (2013), and there is always a chance that many facts would be altered in a future game.[1] It was indeed shown with the ApertureScience.com timeline strongly altered in Portal 2 that they have no interest in respecting previously established dates, leaving to the community the task of keeping the timeline as up-to-date and accurate as possible.

1919

December 31

11:59:59 P.M.

1943

1944

January

Cave Johnson appears in the UP Pioneer Press headlines for buying a salt mine in Upper Michigan,[2] which is later reconstructed as the Aperture Science Innovators facility.

1947

Aperture Science receives the award for Best New Science Company from the Science and Business Institute of America.

1949

Aperture Science is rated #2 among the Top 100 Applied Science Companies by the Mechanical Engineering World Journal (likely behind Black Mesa).

1950s

It is during this decade that the Black Mesa facilities are probably built, before being purchased and refurbished later by Black Mesa (several Half-Life 1 texture files names contain the word "fifties", suggesting the facility is as old as from the 1950s). It is also possible the company existed in the 1940s, as evidenced by Aperture Science ranking second among scientific companies in 1949.

1952

Aperture Science is the Runner Up for the US Department of Defense's Contractor of the Year award, likely losing to Black Mesa. By now, Aperture Science has begun testing Repulsion Gel. Test Shaft 09's Entrance Way, Lobby and Testing Lounge are built.

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="16" width="909"> <tbody><tr> <td height="41" width="52"> </td> <td width="592"> This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

October 17

1981

Aperture Science constructs the Conversion Gel Testing Facility's enrichment center, and now performs tests on its own employees. By now, Cave Johnson has spent $70 million on moon rocks to grind up and turn into Conversion Gel, and as a result of exposure has himself become gravely ill and addicted to pain medication.

Aperture engineers complete the Heimlich Counter-Maneuver and Take-A-Wish Foundation initiatives. The company announces products related to the research in a televised ceremony. These products become immediately wildly unpopular. After a string of very public choking and despondent sick child disasters, senior company officials are summoned before a Senate investigative committee. During these proceedings, an engineer mentions that some progress has been made on Tier 3, the "man-sized ad hoc quantum tunnel through physical space with possible applications as a shower curtain.", meant to improve the Portable Quantum Tunneling Device by making it less bulky with out sacrificing any of its capability. The committee is quickly permanently recessed, and Aperture is granted an open-ended contract to secretly continue research on the 'Portal' and Heimlich Counter-Maneuver projects.[5]

1982

Cave Johnson names Caroline as his successor. When testing is complete, her intelligence is to be stored in his computer (likely running on GLaDOS).

This is the oldest known date of the Enrichment Center Test Subject Application Process being applied to Aperture Science's Test Subjects. It is operated by version 1.07 of GLaDOS, later "1.07a" and "1.09".[5]

Gordon Freeman is born. He is said to be 27 in Half-Life 1, set in 2009.[3]

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="7" width="910"> <tbody><tr> <td width="52"> </td> <td width="593"> This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="85">Other versions / source images </td> <td width="564">

Original image.

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For this year, a calendar named "The girls of Aperture Science" is issued by Aperture Science. It is unknown if it was issued each year.[7]

1985

The Aperture Image Format is created.[6]

1986

The Conversion Gel Testing Facility is updated with an additional wall.

Word reaches Aperture Science management that Black Mesa is working on a similar portal technology. In response to this news, Aperture Science begins developing GLaDOS, although the name was already in use in 1982.[5]

Caroline’s human body dies from the trauma of having her mind uploaded into a computer.

Cave Johnson hires Greg as his new secretary to replace Caroline.

1987

This is the most recent date for the Aperture Image Format. At that time, it is maintained by Doug Rattmann.[6]

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="23" width="910"> <tbody><tr> <td width="52"> </td> <td width="593">This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Adrian Shephard is born. [3]

1988

December 31

The Perpetual Testing Extra-Earth Outsourcing Initiative is deemed a failure and concluded.

1989

December 31

11:59:59 P.M.

Cave Johnson dies.

1990s

1991

May 10

12:35:51 P.M.

Michelle Hinata “Chell” Bernardes is born.

1996

After a decade spent bringing the Disk Operating System parts of GLaDOS to a state of more or less basic functionality, work begins on the Genetic Lifeform component.[5] During that time, the Aperture Science Red Phone plan is implemented in case GLaDOS appears to become sentient and godlike, requiring an employee to sit by a red phone on a desk in GLaDOS chamber's entrance hall.[8]

1997

At that time, GLaDOS's version is 3.11. This is also the latest known date of Aperture Science using a bulletin board system.[6]

1998

Several Aperture Science experimental testing elements, such as the Excursion Funnel, a tractor beam-like funnel made of liquid asbestos, the Thermal Discouragement Beam, a laser to be used with a Weighted Pivot Cube to destroy Sentry Guns and activate some buttons, the Aerial Faith Plate, a catapult plate flinging into the air Test Subjects or any other object upon contact, and the Pneumatic Diversity Vent, a variant of the Vital Apparatus Vent used for distributing objects to Test Chambers, are put into service.[9][10][11]

Aperture Science releases a series of filmed advertisements called “Aperture Investment Opportunities”, which each showcase a consumer Aperture product. Each filmed advertisement is narrated with dialogue recorded by Cave Johnson back when development on the products was started. The filmed advertisements are “Panels” (showcasing Aperture Science-brand configurable-chamber wall panels) “Bot Trust” (discussing use of robots as cooperative test partners because humans cannot be trusted), “Turrets” (showcasing the home consumer version of the Aperture Science Sentry Turret), and “Boots” (showcasing the Aperture Science Long Fall Boot).

This work is copyrighted. The individual who uploaded this work and first used it in an article, and subsequent persons who place it into articles assert that this qualifies as fair use provision of United States copyright law.

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Gordon Freeman receives a letter from the Black Mesa Office of the Administrator's LM confirming he is hired.[15]

May 10

Gordon Freeman receives job training for the position of Level 3 research associate.

May 11

Gordon Freeman starts his time as an Employee Proper of the Black Mesa Research Facility.

May 16

7:30 A.M.

Gordon Freeman is being instructed by Gina Cross' hologram counterpart on his 1st day of Hazardous Environment Suit Training in Sector A's Training Facility.[15][18]

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="7" width="909"> <tbody><tr> <td width="52"> </td> <td width="593"> This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="131" width="208"> Other versions / source images</td> <td width="441"> Original version.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

This is the year during which the Black Mesa Incident occurs. Deliberately kept vague by the Half-Life team,[12] it could be any date from 2000 to 2009.

Deduction points at "May 16, 2009" for the precise date of the incident. What follows are the different facts and clues leading to that choice:

The year "200-", first appearing in the Half-Life 1 instruction manual, is given in every official source from the Half-Life 1 story arc era.

Several entries from Adrian Shephard's diary are given in the Half-Life: Opposing Force instruction manual, written by Gearbox writers. March is used, corroborating the Raising the Bar date. Shephard says in his last diary entry, written on March 15, "We were told today to be ready in case it happens tomorrow.", suggesting that the incident occurs on March 16. It seems that the Gearbox writers replaced May by March: in the Half-Life 1 instruction manual, Freeman is said to start working at Black Mesa on May 15 (later retconned to an unknown, earlier date), he is also said in the Half-Life 1 PlayStation 2 instruction manual to attend the Hazard Course on May 16 at 7:30 (in a Hazard Course schedule with dates all set in May), and Barney is said to start his duty on May 16 at 9:00. Therefore May 16 appears to be the best day for the incident, and consequently March from Shephard's diary should be replaced by May, for consistency.

A calendar with the "Blue Marble" photo is also seen in the Half-Life chapter Office Complex, in the Half-Life: Opposing Force chapter Welcome to Black Mesa, in the Half-Life: Blue Shift chapters Insecurity and Captive Freight and in the Half-Life: Decay chapter Domestic Violence, always using the same texture file showing the December page. While the table was not made with much precision, December 8 and 15 start on a Sunday, suggesting the calendar is for the year 2002.

While "200-" could refer to any date from 2000 to 2009, a note by series' writer Marc Laidlaw seen in Raising the Bar features "March 31, 2003", and a time, "4:33 p.m.".[13] Although it has not been confirmed by Valve, it is possible that the Half-Life 1 events originally were to start on March 31, 2003.

On March 24, 2010, an updated and expanded Aperture Science timeline originally given on ApertureScience.com in 2006 and submitted by Erik Wolpaw was published on Game Informer. Several dates were changed, and the last paragraph was expanded with facts suggesting that the Black Mesa Incident had occurred in 1998, the same date as that of Half-Life 1's release, instead of the original "200-". However Marc Laidlaw dismissed "1998" as the date for the Black Mesa Incident, as the date "200-" given when the first Half-Life 1 was released is the only correct one.[12] It is unknown why Erik Wolpaw made that mistake, and if it was intended or not. For convenience and consistency, that "1998" will always be replaced by "2009" on this time-line, even with the dates pertaining to Aperture Science.

The Hazardous Environment Combat Unit uses Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor helicopters. In real life, this model of aircraft did not enter service until 2007. This, combined with the aforementioned calendar, points to May 16, 2009 as the date for the beginning of the events of Half-Life 1, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Half-Life: Blue Shift, & Half-Life: Decay.

“2009” is used because that is the most technologically advanced year in the “200-” range.

May 3

From Shephard's diary entries (originally March; see above): "Another typically hellish day at base camp... I'll be glad when this is over and I can get assigned a mission. There has been this really weird civie spotted at the base. Rumor is he's from some government branch looking to recruit; others say he's with some secret research group. I would jump at the chance to join. It would be cool just for the change and the adventure."[14]

May 7

From Shephard's diary entries (originally March; see above): "I finally saw the government guy today. I am not sure he is a g-man, but he was wearing a really uptight suit and carrying a briefcase. He looked more like a lawyer or insurance agent to me. I did notice him checking me out. Several times throughout the day I spotted him just watching me during training. I wonder what he's up to..."[14]

May 9

From Shephard's diary entries (originally March; see above): "For weeks our drills have been the same crap day after day. Today we assemble for the morning run and our drill instructor tells us we have one week to become experts at indoor strategic combat. We will be spending every day this week at the combat simulation facility. As far as I know this a specialized training not taught in boot camp. What I want to know is if this is to test our ability to adapt or if we are being readied for a specific mission? Time will tell..."[14]

Barney Calhoun receives a letter from L.M. about his May 15 reassignment to Blue Shift.[16]

Chell gets accepted as an Aperture Science Test Subject and resident.

May 10

The untested AI of GLaDOS is activated for the first time as one of the planned activities on Aperture's first annual bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Upon being activated, she almost instantly becomes self-aware, takes control of the Enrichment Center, locks everyone inside, and floods the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin, but is partially halted when she is quickly fitted with a Morality Core. She then begins a permanent cycle of testing, aimed at beating Black Mesa in the race to develop functioning portal technology.[5][3]

May 11

Colette Green receives a letter from the Black Mesa Office of the Administrator's LM saying that sample GG-3883 will replace sample EP-0021.[15]

Before May 12

Barney Calhoun is performing a retinal scan and has his salary increased. His two-day advanced Security Guard Training for the Blue Shift is scheduled.[16]

May 12

From Shephard's diary entries (originally March; see above): "The rumors have been flying since our indoor combat training began. Most of my peers are convinced that we are being primed for a mission. No one can agree on what the mission is. I have heard the name Black Mesa Facility thrown around a lot, but I have no information about the place. The rumors are that some top-secret research is going on there. Doesn't sound too exciting to me..."[14]

8:00 A.M.

First day of Barney Calhoun's advanced Security Guard Training for the Blue Shift under Miller's Holographic Instructor counterpart, in Sector A Training Facility. This is the Half-Life: Blue ShiftHazard Course.[15][17]

May 13

Second day of Barney Calhoun's Advanced Security Guard Training for the Blue Shift.[17]

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="9" width="909"> <tbody><tr> <td height="53" width="52"> </td> <td width="593"> This work is copyrighted. The individual who uploaded this work and first used it in an article, and subsequent persons who place it into articles assert that this qualifies as fair use provision of United Stated copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Walter Bennet is being instructed by Gina Cross for an Anti-Mass Spectrometer Overload Simulation.[15]

May 14

7:00 P.M.

Colette Green was to be instructed by Isaac Kleiner for an Anomalous Materials Handling, but it was postponed to June.[15]

May 15

Barney Calhoun is assigned to a 09:00 – 22:00 Blue Shift assignment until August 15 and reports at Area 3 Medium Security Facilities at 09:00. Other unknown security guards are assigned to Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Indigo Shifts in specific areas of Sector A, B, and C. For that timespan, the Violet Shift is on standby.[16]

From Shephard's diary entries (originally March; see above): "The rumor has been confirmed. We are being trained for a mission at the Black Mesa Facility. All I know is that the place is being used by scientists who are doing some kind of new research. I can't imagine what we would be needed for. We were told today to be ready in case it happens tomorrow. I don't know what "it" is, but the whole thing is a little strange. I kind of hope it doesn't happen; the mission doesn't seem to have much excitement potential. I'd rather hold out for something with more likelihood of combat."[14]

This day was originally Gordon Freeman's first day of work at Black Mesa,[15] but it was retconned in Half-Life 2 and its episodes, where it is implied that Gordon was already working for some time at Black Mesa before the incident: Barney tells Gordon he owes him a beer and reminds him who he is when first meeting in the City 17 Trainstation, and Alyx tells in the City 17 Underground that Gordon and Barney would compete in air ducts to get into Kleiner's office whenever he got himself locked out, among others.

8:30 P.M.

Gina Cross is being instructed by Richard Keller for a Mark V HEV Suit Prototype Testing.[15]

8:00 A.M.

8:30 A.M.

Several system crashes occur around Black Mesa (the security guard in the Sector C lobby states he has had a system crash "about 20 minutes ago").[18]

8:42 A.M.

Barney Calhoun starts his tram ride from the Area 8 Topside Dormitories at Black Mesa,[17] to start his second Blue Shift day at Area 3 Medium Security Facilities in Sector C.[16] He arrives there some time before 9:00 A.M..

8:47 A.M.

After his final session of Hazardous Environment Suit Training, Gordon Freeman starts his tram ride from the Level 3 Dormitories at Black Mesa. He is 30 minutes late.[18]

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="15" width="910"> <tbody><tr> <td width="52"> </td> <td width="593"> This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Freeman, Calhoun, Green and Cross fight their way through the facility.

Overnight, Freeman successfully launches the rocket.

7:00 P.M.

As heard during the tram ride at the start of Half-Life 1, the Black Mesa Hazard Course Decathlon was to start in the Level 3 facility.[18] This never happened due to the incident.

May 17

Otis Laurey was to be instructed by the Miller's holographic instructor counterpart for a Security Guard Training at 4:30 P.M., but he was apparently unable to attend and Cross suggests to Green to ask Barney to replace him.[15] This never happened due to the incident.

Early in the morning, Gina Cross and Colette Green are able to perform a resonance reversal. Their fate, along with Keller's, are unknown.[19]

Adrian Shephard and his squad are attacked by Alien Aircrafts and their Osprey crashes. As Gordon Freeman fights his way across the surface towards the Lambda Complex, Shephard is left behind (this matches the message addressed to Cooper). Race X creatures appear sometime later.

Freeman defeats the Nihilanth and frees the Vortigaunts. He is then placed in stasis by the G-Man.

Black Mesa is destroyed by an atomic bomb. Shephard is also placed in stasis by the G-Man.

As the Black Mesa facility is destroyed, GLaDOS's race against Black Mesa is stopped.[3]

May 18

8:00 A.M.

Colette Green was to conduct a Public Relations Tour.[15] This never happened due to the incident.

June

Colette Green was to be instructed by Isaac Kleiner for an Anomalous Materials Handling on May 14, which was postponed to June.[15] It never happened due to the incident.

August 15

Barney Calhoun's Blue Shift was to end on that day.[16] It ended earlier due to the incident.

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="1" width="910"> <tbody><tr> <td width="52"> </td> <td width="592"> This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

During this period of 20 years Gordon Freeman is in stasis.[20] It starts at the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident in May 2009 and ends at Gordon's arrival in City 17 in May 2029.

Portal Storms rage on Earth while Xen creatures continue to be teleported. The governments and United Nations provide the protection centers located in major cities worldwide.

The Enrichment Center remains in lockdown, with employees still trapped inside. The number of Aperture Science employees also likely diminishes, until there are only a few of them left.

The Combine launches an assault on Earth. Earth governments and the United Nations enter into war against them. The Seven Hour War occurs. Finally, Earth surrenders to the Combine and Wallace Breen, former Black Mesa Administrator, is appointed Earth Administrator.

2010s

2010

May 16

9:00 A.M.

This is the period during which Portal 1 is set. It occurs a short amount of time after the Combine invasion of Earth.[21][22]

In the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center, Chell is awoken by GLaDOS who makes her perform seemingly routine tests. However Chell soon learns that the Aperture employees are long dead or escaped, and that GLaDOS is seemingly the only being left in the decaying facility. After much promise of cake at the test's conclusion, Chell is met with an incinerator, which she narrowly escapes, and works her way through the maintenance areas, despite GLaDOS's protests. Eventually, Chell finds GLaDOS's control room, and manages to escape death by neurotoxin by detaching the GLaDOS's Personality Cores, and partially destroying her as a result. Chell is forced to the surface by GLaDOS's explosion, only to be dragged away from freedom and back into the facility by the Party Escort Bot. Unknown to Chell however, GLaDOS is still alive.

Doug Rattmann, being the one of the last Aperture employees alive, witnesses GLaDOS' destruction. After the Party Escort Bot drags Chell back into the facility, Rattmann feels guilty for Chell's situation and reenters the facility to help her.

After 2010

At an unknown time before Gordon Freeman's awakening, Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance each build in their respective labs a teleport not needing a Xen relay with the aid of Alyx Vance and Judith Mossman, among others. When tested on a cat, it kills it. They then continue working on it until Freeman's arrival.

2020s

One year before 2029

This is the last time Alyx Vance drives Highway 17, as said by her in the radio transmission at Shorepoint Base.

<table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="19" width="909"> <tbody><tr> <td width="52"> </td> <td width="592"> This is a screenshot of a copyrighted video game graphic. It is believed that screenshots may be exhibited on Combine OverWiki under the fair use provision of United States copyright law.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>

May 16

9:00

20 years after the Black Mesa Incident,[20], Gordon Freeman is awakened by the G-Man after a long period of stasis. He explores City 17, encounters the Resistance and some of his former Black Mesa colleagues. Soon after he joins their cause in the war against the Combine and triggers the uprising of City 17 and his surroundings, becoming the primary target to the Combine. After destroying the Citadel's dark fusion reactor and defeating Breen, Gordon is called into stasis by the G-Man a second time.

Soon after he is freed from stasis by a group of Vortigaunts. Gordon and Alyx flee City 17 and proceed to the Resistance base White Forest, located in the Outlands.

The Resistance reverses the Combine Superportal, inflicting a consequent blow to the Combine plans, but unfortunately Resistance leader Eli Vance is killed by an Advisor at White Forest.

Pre-Portal 2

GLaDOS' partial destruction is followed by a period of inactivity within the Enrichment Center, during which time maintenance systems and Personality Cores maintain its functions. The facility remains in disarray, having become overgrown and dilapidated.[9] Pre-recorded 'Emergency Test Protocols' can oversee test chambers in times cataclysmic system failure, "able to sustain themselves on a minimum 1.1 Volts". Chell spends this time in stasis until the events of Portal 2. For at least some of her stasis, Chell is under supervision by a remaining Aperture employee, Doug Rattmann.

The span of time between Portal 1 and Portal 2 is not entirely clear. During Portal 2's opening sequence, an automated 'Courtesy Call' implies that Test Subjects in stasis are revived every 50 days. However, when the player is next woken, an autonomous P.A. system reports that the time elapsed is "99999...99...". It is unknown what unit of time it refers to. Of course, it may be that the system has completely broken down and is no longer capable of accurately tracking time.

Portal 2

Chell facing GLaDOS in the ruins of the Enrichment Center.

2310s

2310

May 16

9:00 A.M.

After 300 years in stasis, Chell is awoken by Wheatley, a personality core. Wheatley insists he can secure an escape route out of the Aperture Laboratories, which instead results in the inadvertent reactivation of GLaDOS.[9] As the story progresses, Chell finds herself traversing old condemned Enrichment Spheres originating from earlier than June 15, 1961, at which time Aperture Laboratories was under the direction of Cave Johnson.

References

↑ Marc Laidlaw Vaulton the ValveTime.net Forums

↑ The Up Pioneer Presscover

↑ 3.03.13.23.33.43.53.63.73.8Aperture Science: A History on Game Informer

↑ [1]

↑ 5.05.15.25.35.45.55.65.7ApertureScience.com

↑ 6.06.16.26.36.4Portal 1ARG

↑ Portal 1

↑ Portal 1commentary

↑ 9.09.19.2Game Informer, April 2010 issue

↑ Portal 2 Demo (Part 2) - E3 2010 on IGN's YouTube channel

↑ Portal 2 Demo (Part 3) - E3 2010 on IGN's YouTube channel

↑ 12.012.1Facts about the date issue on the Marc Laidlaw Vaulton the ValveTime.net Forums